To the present time many tag applicators are able to be used solely for the application of a single tag to an animal, typically to its ear. Such applicators require the loading of discrete tags ready for each application with the consequential time and effort that this involves.
Other applicators however, have proposed the use of a strip of tags which can be loaded into an applicator so that tags can be sequentially dispensed from the applicator.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,440, (Cohr), for example, a strip of tags is loaded into a magazine positioned alongside the applicator body. To dispense an individual tag, the operation of the applicator results in the front tag in the magazine being moved into the applicator body where a blade of a slider will sever the leading tag from the tag strip in the magazine and a tag advance mechanism will move the now separated tag to the front of the applicator where it can be secured to the animal. Typically such a side loading operation and the early separation of the tag from the strip has been found to provide various disadvantages, especially in the difficulty and unreliability of its operation.
In another applicator, as described in New Zealand patent 524953, (Eadie), this again provides a flat strip of tags which is located transverse of an applicator body. The tags are then fed individually and sequentially into the applicator body by a tooth wheel. This design results in the first two tags of the strip being unusable in each case and the side-loading operation also presents difficulties.